The proof is all over Instagram. Search hashtags like #morethananumber and #gainingweightiscool and you'll find emotional stories of transformation from women who stopped obsessing over weighing less and started to focus more on strength, balance, and overall wellbeing.

Some people — like fitness blogger Emma O'Neill — gain weight by putting on more muscle and getting stronger.

She started lifting weights and gained more than 20 pounds of muscle mass.

Jessica O'Brien said that her body changed dramatically when she stopped focusing on how it looked and started focusing on what it could do.

She gained about 10 pounds but ended up much stronger.

"A few years ago, I used to trick myself into thinking I was healthy," trainer Chloé Maxwell wrote on Instagram. "I was scared of food, scared of carbs."

"A few years later, I'm 15 kilograms heavier," she added. "After almost 2 years of weight lifting, I'm 3 times stronger, 2 times more confident, and a lot happier."

And personal trainer Kelsey Wells has gained 18 pounds since she hit a low weight of 122 pounds.

"For the love of everything please stop letting your weight have any effect whatsoever on your self esteem," she wrote in the caption to this photo. "Thank goodness I finally learned to start measuring my progress by things that matter — strength, ability, endurance, health, and happiness."

Others have gained weight by finding a better balance between fitness and the rest of life — and that deserves celebrating, too.

"I finally feel like I have a good balance with working out and eating," Sarah Puhto wrote on Instagram."I know some of you will prefer my body on the left but it doesn't matter to me because that's not when I was the happiest."

"I weigh probably about five pounds more in the right picture than the left," Nicole Chose wrote in the caption to this photo. "I am so much happier and healthier now."

Sometimes weight gain is a hallmark of recovery from an eating disorder.

"I haven't gone to the gym or started a exercise regimen [...] I haven't been lifting or squatting," Instagram user Caitlin wrote in the caption to this photo. "I ate what I felt like, what I wanted and didn't pressure myself into exercise that I didn't truly want to do. [...] The result is this cellulite, jiggly and perfectly imperfect bottom of mine and love handles... but it is actually a hell of a lot more than that. It's the mental freedom that I have gained by not being bound by the weight of my [eating] disorder."

Weight gain can also indicate healing. Mikay Slegh worked hard to gain back the weight she lost when diagnosed with Celiac disease.

"After being diagnosed with Celiac (4 years ago) I dropped from 135 pounds to 113 pounds in months," she wrote on Instagram. "People commented how great I looked, but I felt miserable [...] Feeling beautiful doesn't depend on how you look or how much you weigh, but how comfortable you are in your own skin."

And sometimes gaining weight helps women gain confidence.

"I was healthy [at] both weights but I feel so much better at 125 pounds," Maria Flores wrote in the caption to this photo.

Model Charli Howard said she's far more confident in her body shape after gaining weight.

"I like how my boobs and thighs are getting bigger, which I never thought I'd say," she wrote. "I don't want to look like that miserable girl on the left, whose gums were always bleeding, hair was falling out, periods didn't come [...] It's taken me years, but I like my body and my shape. I'm finally healthy."

For some women, weight gain has been transformative.

"I used to want to be skinny so bad," this woman wrote on Instagram. "You are so much more than your weight."

"The difference in my transformation is so much more than weight gain," trainer Maria Rodriguez wrote on Instagram. "It's really about finding my fire."

And many have found that being thinner simply didn't make them happier.

"I remember hating how I looked when this picture [on the left] was taken," Instagram user Alyssa wrote. "Now I am the most confident with my body, the happiest Ive ever been and I feel amazing all the time. Don't measure progress from the scale alone."

Before-and-after photos like these are a powerful reminder the number on the scale isn't the only factor that matters.

"In the picture on the left I used to be a slave to the scale (always trying to get that number lower) and let food control me because of it...The picture on the right is a very different place... I am no longer a slave to the scale, I eat about 2200 calories a day (most days more) and I take care of myself ... mind, body, and spirit ... This photo is about so much more than what my body looks like."

"I think sometimes it can be easy to get fixated on the scale and think that a lower number is always better," blogger Claire Guentz wrote when sharing this transformation.

"Granted, health encompasses so many factors and sometimes the answer is weight loss. But I really encourage everyone who struggles with the scale to remember that there are other things to consider," she continued.

Remember: Overall health can't be measured by a single number.

"I bet if you looked at these two pictures without the numbers, you'd tell me the girl on the left weighs more," blogger Lindsey wrote on Instagram. "The scale is not the end-all be-all of health and fitness and you are much more than that number."